Meeting the Supportive Needs of Family Caregivers in Palliative Care: Challenges forHealthProfessionals http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Meeting_the_Supportive_Needs_of_Family_ Caregivers_in_Palliative_Care__Challenges.

pdf ABSTRACT Caring for a dying relative is demanding, and family caregivers have acknowledged many unmet needs associated with their caregiver role. Consistently, caregivers of dying patients with cancer have reported that they need more support and information from health care professionals. Moreover, a number of palliative care clinicians and researchers have called for interventions to enhance the support offered to family caregivers. However, before researchers can develop and test palliative care interventions directed to families, it is important to identify barriers that may confront health care professionals with regard to the provision of supportive family care. For new interventions to be feasible they must be applicable within the constraints of current palliative care service delivery environments. This paper provides an account of issues that may impinge on optimal transference of supportive strategies from health care professionals to family caregivers of patients receiving palliative care. By acknowledging these barriers to supportive care, researchers and health care professionals can begin to design and implement interventions that are clinically relevant and more likely to be effective.

The emerging role and needs of family caregivers in cancer care.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15328817
Abstract Involvement of family caregivers is essential for optimal treatment of cancer patients in ensuring treatment compliance, continuity of care, and social support, particularly at the end of life. The diagnosis of cancer presents a major crisis not only to the patient but also to the patient's primary caregiver. Caregivers often assume this role under sudden and extreme circumstances, with minimal preparation and uneven guidance and support from the healthcare system. The primary setting for the delivery of care to patients with cancer has shifted from the hospital to the home as a result of increased use of outpatient services for cancer treatment, shortened hospital visits, longer survival,and the trend for caregivers to accommodate patients' desire to be cared for at home for as long as possible. Caring for a family member with cancer poses significant challenges, with considerable psychological and physical consequences for the caregiver. Family caregiving has gained attention in the past decade with growing realization that support for family caregivers benefits the caregiver, the patient, and the healthcare team. This article will attempt to provide an understanding of the multifaceted role of caregivers in cancer care, describe the impact of this role on the caregiver's quality of life, impart an understanding of the caregiver's burden and unmet needs, highlight adaptational

requirements of caregivers along the disease trajectory, and describe interventions for providing support to nonmedical persons caring for patients with cancer.

The Role of Family Caregivers for People with Chronic Illness http://www.rimed.org/medhealthri/2011-02/2011-02-41.pdf A chronic disease (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, dementia, some cancers, rheumatological diseases, human immunodeciency virus) can occur and cycle in are ups throughout the lifetime. Chronic illnesses, with their effect on the patients symptoms, mood, and need for emotional and physical support, exert a burden on family members. Additionally, families inuence a patients psychological adjustment and management of the illness, adoption of behaviors that influence recovery, functioning and adherence to treatments.